OpinionsTree HuggerCare for our common home

Care for our common home

-

- Advertisment -spot_img

In reading this encyclical by Pope Francis released in May 2015, I am struck by the tenderness and gentle exhortation yet with an urgency that demands from humanity to act and not to be complacent bystanders with regard to the state of our planet earth.

Naming pollution, agricultural monocultures, destructive fishing, industrial waste, the loss of our virgin forests, the disappearance of ecosystems and overconsumption as just a few of the many reasons why our home planet is in the state it is in, Pope Francis exhorts the global community to rethink economics so that the plight of the poor is taken into great consideration.

Caring for ecosystems demands far-sightedness, since no one looking for quick and easy profit is truly interested in their preservation. The cost of the damage caused by such selfish lack of concern is much greater than the economic benefits to be obtained, he writes. Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration…He exhorts us to the beauty that is inherent in nature.

Pope Francis speaks of the unruly growth of cities which have become unhealthy to live in not only because of toxic emissions but the result of urban chaos, poor transportation, visual pollution and noise. We were not meant to be inundated by cement, asphalt, glass and metal, and deprived of physical contact with nature.

If we are capable of the worst, we are also capable of rising above ourselves choosing again what is good and making a new start.

Pope Francis refers to his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, who invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.

He ends his encyclical on the Care For Our Common Home with two prayers, one of which I include here.

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, You are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists, Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. Oh God of the poor ,help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing t our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you each day. Encourage us we pray, in our struggle For justice, love and peace.

This column can never reflect the whole content of this encyclical. Hoping that this encyclical be read and imprinted in our heads and hearts because there is so much in the area of pollution control that need addressing to. The Philippines is the third largest polluter of the oceans.

Laudato Si’ may be downloaded at www.https://laudatosi.com/

______________________________________

Author’s email: [email protected]

(Back to MetroPost HOME PAGE)


 

 

Latest news

City budget is dead  — Dgte Council

    Perdices resigns as Finance Committee chair “The Motion raised by Councilor Baldado for the approval of the 2025 annual...

Comelec to put LGUs  in ‘yellow’ alert

    Majority of the cities and municipalities in Negros Oriental are likely to be placed under ‘yellow’ category for the...

Who wins?

    The City Council’s Friday special session was meant to be about one matter: approving the 2025 annual budget of...

Canlaon completes P12M infra

    despite eruption The local government of Canlaon City turned over this week more than P12 million worth of infrastructure projects...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

Coop budgets P9M for CSR

    The Perpetual Help Community Cooperative, Inc. has lined up projects this year for its community development program in Negros...

PNP augments force for May polls

    The first batch of augmentation force from the Philippine National Police that will assist in disaster response, and perform...

Must read

City budget is dead  — Dgte Council

    Perdices resigns as Finance Committee chair “The Motion raised by...

Comelec to put LGUs  in ‘yellow’ alert

    Majority of the cities and municipalities in Negros Oriental...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you